Ready to get your color fix? While living in India, I quickly learned that the first stop in any city or town that I visited was the flower market, or mandi. The colors, the noise, the smells - and even the masala chai tea - made it an experience for the senses. While in Bangalore, I woke up early to go see one of the city's oldest, and one of Asia's largest, flower markets called the KR (Krishnarajendra Wodeyar) Market. The area is a labyrinth of sweet smelling stalls.

Inside The Market

Flowers in Action

The coils that you see are large strands of flowerheads or garlands, and they are called mala in Hindi. You see these hanging everywhere for festivals, weddings, celebrations, and at temples. People get up very early to pluck, sort and string the flowerheads and petals. Below you can see them hanging at a wedding I went to in Jaipur at Samode Palace. The floral creativity at weddings blows you away!

Here is a vendor haggling with some buyers. They argued for quite a while. Haha. They sell these loooong strings by the meter.

Stringing the Flowers

These women are stringing together smaller, fragrant garlands, called gajrai. Women wear them on their hair around a bun or on the wrist for both everyday wear and special occasions, like weddings.

The stalls are just endless!

This building is 2 stories and I loved looking down on everyone.

Don't you love the color combinations?

And the color saturation?

These loose roseheads and rose petals are often found at temples. 

See the petals here at my feet, next to my gold juttis? I wore this sari at a wedding where rose petals were everywhere!

What do you think about the trip to the flower market? I hope you found inspiration from the KR Mandi in Bangalore. The color combinations and color saturation really inspire me. I can see designing an inviting library with high gloss paint that reflects these jewel tones. What are you dreaming about designing now?